Sri Lanka: Arrests at Protest Against Army-Built Buddhist Vihara

Sri Lankan police arrested the owners of land which was grabbed by the army to build a Buddhist vihara after they held a protest at the location in Kokkilaay, Mullaitivu.

The owners, Thirugnanasambanthar Mannivannathas, Katharkamu Sivayogeswaran and Loganathan Jude Nimalan, held a symbolic fast outside the vihara, which is being constructed by the military, earlier today.

Police arrested the men and pressured them to abandon their protest, before releasing them a few hours later.

The Mullaitivu district, along with most of the northern districts is virtually entirely Tamil. The government was recently accused by a US think-tank of conducting a “silent war” through Sinhalisation, including by the building of Sinhala Buddhist temples in Tamil areas.